Sorry… not sure where to post this bc it isn’t really wedding related!

I just got a call from apple vacations that I “won” a free 3 night cruise from a drawing I entered at a bridal show. Here is the deal, as described to me, me and my Fiance come into the apple vacations office today and sit through a 1 hour sales pitch, then they pay for round trip airfare and a 3 night cruise to one of 3 or 4 destinations in the carribean. We do NOT have to attend anything while on the actual vacation. The cruise includes food and non-alcoholic drinks. We pay for port taxes and fees, and alcohol.

Part of me thinks we should go ahead and go to the thing today because if its a scam it only wasted a little time today and really… we’re researching honeymoon spots anyways so it might be useful.

The other part of me is VERY skeptical and says this is too good to be true and is probably a scam some how.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Scam or not?

The guy is calling me back in like 45 min so I need some quick feedback.

I think you should go and see what happens! Just be aware that they are going to be SUPER high pressure to try and get you to buy a timeshare or whatever they’re schilling! Like, might not let you leave til you buy something high pressure. It happens, but just stick to your guns!

I don’t know if it’s a scam or not but I’m always leary of stuff like this even if it is through Apple Vacations. Not to mention taxes and alcohol on a cruise can often add up to be more then what you paid for the cruise. Just be aware of that.

@KMSull– I am definitely aware of that, but I’m kind of a salesman’s worst nightmare 🙂 I am extremely careful/logical and pressure does nothing but harden me into my position. The harder they push, the LESS likely it gets that I’ll buy anything bc they just piss me off and then I consider it a personal challenge to prove to them why I don’t need them. Consider it a personality flaw but it works out well for me in these situations.

@Stephin- what do you mean “even apple vacations”… I have never heard of them before? Are they generally reputable? My Fiance doesn’t drink and all and I don’t drink much so I’m not worried about alcohol but I’ve never been on a cruise so I don’t know anything about the taxes etc…

@stephin– good to know. i did google “apple vacations scam” to see if i could find anything and didn’t see much but your usual slew of customer complaints that I would expect just about any travel company to have.

i actually got the same offer from global vacations for a 3 day trip to vegas… i tenatively have an appt for saturday to go in with the Fiance, but i’m def on the fence about taking a 45 minute drive to be hassled by pitchmen.

My dad has gone on a couple of things like this cause he LOVES to research different hotels/ travel venues and this is an interesting perspective on it. He’s a wealth manager with a pretty substantial interest in travel and this is so “insider info” on sales pitches that he can’t pass it up.

It’s a scam in that you probably didn’t “win”- they likely called and offered this to everyone that entered. However, in general they’ll probably live up to the deal they described. Just make sure you’re totally prepared not to buy anything at the sales pitch. Don’t even bring your credit cards or check book!

you didn’t win anything, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad deal either. We have sat through time share presentations also, and it’s not bad. We actually purchased one to hawaii that was a ridiculous deal, so they’ll probably call us for the rest of our lives. But if you don’t have patience, and really don’t want to book any future vacations with them, do not waste your time. We only attend presentations for Hilton, b/c we use them so frequently already and it’s not a waste for us (even when we say no thanks!).

I voted before I read the post. Sorry. I thought the question was whether Apple Vacations was legit. I’ve used them a couple of times and they are definitely legit and I recommend them.

However, this situation sounds similar to the time share presentations. I hate those. They are high pressure and always take longer than promised. I’ve been in situations where I haven’t gotten exactly what has been promised to me.

So if you have time and won’t let it get to you, go for it. Just know that you may wind up walking away without what you were promised and they may send in multiple layers of salespeople to convince you that whatever they’re selling is a great deal.

Just got off the phone with them and I asked a bunch of questions. Basically it is a 3 night cruise to the bahamas, florida keys, or port canaveral (sp?). All airfare and cruise stuff is paid for except port fees and taxes which are 189-225/person depending on when we decide to go. So, it would be a $450 long weekend trip for us which isn’t really bad.

We are going to go in tonight but I’m still not sure we’ll actually use the trip. Mostly I’m going to look at it as a chance to ask some questions about honeymoon destinations and get some pricing about that. If its a huge pain in the ass we’ll just leave. I’ll let you all know how it goes!

Update (and a test in patience and picking battles, lol): So despite the fact that my guy was home this morning when the first call came in, and I went and explained everything to him, told him he had 45 minutes to think about it, went back and asked him for his opinion, and was met with an “I don’t know. Whatever you think is fine”, and then told him I thought we should do it and I was going to sign up, and he said ok, then I did sign up, and he said ok… (longest run-on sentence ever)….

I was met with a text 10 minutes ago “I don’t want to do the apple vacations thing.”

I could’ve been annoyed. Perturbed. Exasperated…. I gave him every change and ample time to think and now he’s making me call these people back?!?! I decided to let it go. Not worth the tiff. Even though his motivation is probably at least 70% basketball related (he took the day off work to watch)! So I called back and explained that my Fiance was not interested and we would not be coming in. And dealt with the omg why nots and the but you’re missing such a great deals and whatnot.